Research News

Paper among cancer journal’s most cited articles in past 2 years

By DAVID J. HILL

A UB epidemiologist presented at a national meeting the findings of a recent paper that was rated as one of the top cited articles published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (CEBP) in the past two years.

Jo L. Freudenheim, UB Distinguished Professor, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health in UB’s School of Public Health and Health Professions, presented her research on periodontal disease and breast cancer in postmenopausal women at the Best of CEBP session on March 13 as part of the 41st annual American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO) Conference in Seattle.

Freudenheim’s study, which was published in January 2016, found that women who report having periodontal disease are at greater risk for breast cancer, especially if they smoke or recently quit smoking.

The researchers examined self-reported data from more than 73,000 postmenopausal participants in the Women’s Health Initiative, a federally funded study started in 1991. Researchers found that among women who were smokers or who had quit smoking in the previous 20 years, those with periodontal disease had a 36 percent higher risk of breast cancer.

At the conference, Freudenheim also will discuss next steps for the project, which include examining changes in women’s periodontal disease status and whether those changes are associated with cancer or cardiovascular disease.

CEBP is a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Several UB researchers contributed to the paper, including Robert Genco, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, and from the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health in SPHHP: Michael J. LaMonte, research associate professor; Amy Millen, associate professor and associate chair; Kathleen Hovey, data manager/statistician; Xiaodan Mai, postdoctoral associate; and Jean Wactawski-Wende, SPHHP dean and a professor in the department.

Additional co-authors were from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Dentistry and the University of Michigan.